DEVELOPMENT OF FINITE ELEMENT MODEL FOR CONTROL OF SOLIDIFICATION SHRINKAGE IN AL-SI (A1200) CASTINGS
Finite Element Model for Controlling AL-SI Solidification Shrinkage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55766/sujst-2023-01-e01891Keywords:
Aluminium alloy, Finite element, Solidification, Shrinkage, Al-Si (A1200), CastingAbstract
The objective of this work was to develop Finite Element model and experimentation of the control of solidification shrinkage in Al-Si (A1200) alloy castings. Finite Element method was used to discretize and solve the governing equations developed for the models using the commercial software, Comsol Multi-Physics. The models developed were validated from experimental data obtained using six samples. A comparison of the temperature profiles generated from the experiments and simulations showed that in 64% of the processes, there were no significant differences between the experimental and simulated values. Comparing the Niyama values obtained from experiments with those obtained from the simulations, there were no significant differences in 46% of the processes. Threshold Niyama values of 0.103 (°C-s)1/2/mm for A1200 was established. Below these threshold values, shrinkage will occur in castings from these metals. Results showed that temperature gradients and cooling rates are important in predicting the occurrence of shrinkage in a casting. It was also revealed that alloy composition affects the threshold Niyama values. The Niyama value obtained for alloy A1200 was 0.103 (°C-s)1/2 /mm) because of lower silicon content. The shapes of the castings did not have a significant effect on the Niyama values. However, the sizes of the castings affected their Niyama values since the smaller-sized castings had higher values than the bigger /mm while that with cast dimensions 150mm x 50mm ones. For alloy A1200 with cast dimension 200mm x 50mm, the Niyama value was 0.103 (°C-s)1/2 has a value of 0.129 (°C-s)1/2 /mm.
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